U.S. Bishops. Intimate Knowledge of Scripture

The Archbishops and Bishops of the United States in Conference assembled, to their Clergy and faithful people: Grace unto you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Venerable Brethren of the Clergy,
Beloved Children of the Laity:

To the Church which is taught all truth by the Holy Spirit, Christ entrusted the whole deposit of divine revelation. To the watchful care of the Church we owe the preservation of that Book from which Christians in every age have derived instruction and strength. How needful was the warning of the Apostle that "no prophecy of Scripture is made by private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20)", can be seen in the history of those movements which began by leaving each individual to take his own meaning from the sacred text, and now, after four centuries, have ended in rejecting its Divine authority. The Church, on the contrary, with true reverence for the Bible and solicitude for the spiritual welfare of its readers, has guarded both it and them against the dangers of false interpretation.

In the same spirit, dear brethren, we exhort you to acquire a loving familiarity with the written word: "for what things soever were written, were written for our learning; that through patience and the comfort of the Scriptures we might have hope (Rom. 15:4)". This intimate knowledge of Holy Writ will bring you close to the Person and Life of our Savior and to the labors of His Apostles. It will renew in your hearts the joy with which the first Christians received the tidings of salvation. And it will deepen in you the conviction that the Scriptures are indeed the word of God, "which can instruct you unto salvation by the faith which is in Christ Jesus (2 Tim. 3:15)" — a conviction which cannot be shaken either by the disputes of the learned who "stumble at the word," or by the errors of the unlearned and unstable "who distort the Scriptures to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:16)". (Pastoral letter of the archbishops and bishops of the United States assembled in conference at the Catholic University of America, September, 1919. Scripture references are in the text.)

Cyril of Jerusalem. Glory in the Cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus

The following is part of a lecture given by St. Cyril of Jerusalem to the catechumens during Lent of 347 A.D..  Presented here for the first Friday of the Lenten stations of the cross:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "Every deed of Christ is a cause of glorying to the Catholic Church, but Her greatest of all glorying is in the Cross; and knowing this, Paul says, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14). For it was indeed wondrous that one who was blind from his birth should receive sight in Siloam (John 9:1-7); but what is this compared with the blind of the whole world? It was a great thing, surpassing nature, for Lazarus to rise again on the fourth day (John 11:1-44); but the grace extended to him alone, and what was it compared with the dead in sins throughout the world? It was marvelous that five loaves should pour forth food for the five thousand (Matt. 14:14-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:5-13); but what is that to those who are famishing in ignorance throughout all the world? It was marvelous that she should have been loosed who had been bound by Satan eighteen years (Luke 13:10-16); yet what is this to all of us, who were bound fast in the chains of our sins? But the glory of the Cross led those who were blind through ignorance into light, loosed all who were held fast by sin and ransomed the whole world of mankind (Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim 2:6).

"Let us then not be ashamed of the Cross of our Saviour, but rather glory in it. For the word of the Cross is to Jews a stumbling-block, and to Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23), but to us salvation, and to them that are perishing it is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). For it was not a mere man who died for us, as I said before, but the Son of God, God made Man. Further, if the lamb under Moses drove the destroyer far away [Passover Lamb, Ex 12:21-23], did not much rather the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), deliver us from our sins? The blood of a silly sheep gave salvation; shall not the Blood of the Only-begotten much rather save…."

"Jesus then really suffered for all men; for the Cross was no illusion, otherwise our redemption is an illusion also. His death was not a mere show, for then our salvation is also without reality [imaginary, mythical]. If His death was but a show, they were true who said, We remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I rise again (Matt. 27:63). His Passion then was real: for He was really crucified and we are not ashamed of that; He was crucified and we do not deny it, no, I rather glory to speak of it.

"I confess the Cross because I know of the Resurrection; for if, after being crucified, He had remained as He was, I might not have confessed it. I might have concealed both it and my Master, but now that the Resurrection has followed the Cross, I am not ashamed to declare it." (St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, Excerpts from his Catechesis (Lecture 13) during lent of 347 A.D. when Cyril was still a Priest).

+ St. Cyril of Jerusalem, pray for us. + 

Leo the Great. Jesus, Unconquered Master of Christian Warfare

"…the devil took Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Begone, Satain! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve' (Matt. 4:8-10, Deut. 6:13)."

St. Leo the Great: "Dearly-beloved, as we approach the beginning of Lent, which is a time for the more careful serving of the Lord... let us prepare our souls for fighting with temptations, and understand that the more zealous we are for our salvation, the more determined must be the assaults of our opponents. But “stronger is He that is in us than He that is against us (1 Jn 4:4),” and we are powerful through Him in Whose strength we rely (Eph. 6:10): because it was for this that the Lord allowed Himself to be tempted by the tempter, that we might be taught by His example as well as fortified by His aid. For He conquered the adversary, as you have heard (Matt. 4:1-11), by quotations from the Scripture, not by actual strength, that by this very thing He might do greater honor to man, and inflict a greater punishment on the adversary by conquering the enemy of the human race not now as God but as Man. Therefore, He fought that we too might fight thereafter: He conquered that we too might likewise conquer. For there are no works of power, dearly-beloved, without the trials of temptations, there is no faith without proof, no contest without a foe, no victory without conflict. This life of ours is in the midst of snares, in the midst of battles; if we do not wish to be deceived, we must watch: if we want to overcome, we must fight. And therefore the most wise Solomon says, “My son, in approaching the service of God prepare thy soul for temptation (Sirach 2:1).” For he, being a man full of the wisdom of God, and knowing that the pursuit of religion involves laborious struggles, foreseeing too the danger of the fight, forewarned the intending combatant; for fear that if the tempter came upon him in his ignorance, he might find him unready and wound him unawares.

"So, dearly-beloved, let us, who instructed in Divine learning come wittingly to the present contest and strife, hear the Apostle when he says, “for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things (Eph. 6:12),” and let us not forget that these our enemies feel that all we strive to do for our salvation is done against them all, and that by the very fact of our seeking after some good thing we are challenging our foes. For this is an old-standing quarrel between us and them fostered by the devil’s ill-will, so that they are tortured by our being justified, because they have fallen from those good things to which we, God helping us, are advancing. If, therefore, we are raised, they are prostrated: if we are strengthened, they are weakened. Our cures are their blows, because they are wounded by the cure of our wounds. “Stand, therefore,” dearly-beloved, as the Apostle says, “having girded your mind in truth, and your feet shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace, in all things taking the shield of faith in which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one, and put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:14-17).” See, dearly-beloved, with what mighty weapons, with what impregnable defenses we are armed by our Leader, who is famous for His many triumphs, the unconquered Master of the Christian warfare." (St. Leo the Great, Bishop of Rome 440-461 A.D., excerpt of Sermon 39, On Lent)

+ St. Leo the Great, pray for us +

Cyprian of Carthage. Born Again in the Water of Baptism

Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5)".  

Caecilius Cyprian to Donatus sends, greeting:  “While I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, wavering here and there, tossed about on the foam of this boastful age, and uncertain of my wandering steps, knowing nothing of my real life, and remote from truth and light, I regarded it a difficult matter, especially difficult in respect of my character at that time, that a man should be capable of being born again (Jn 3:3-8) — a truth which the divine mercy had announced for my salvation. How is it that a man, quickened to a new life in the laver of saving water, should be able to put off what he had previously been and still retaining all his bodily structure, should himself be changed in heart and soul. How, said I, is such a conversion possible, that there should be a sudden and rapid divestment of all which, either innate in us has hardened in the corruption of our material nature, or acquired by us has become addictive by long accustomed use? These things have become deeply and radically engrained within us. For as I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe that I could be delivered, I despaired of better things. I was inclined to give in to my clinging vices and indulge my sins as if they were actually parts of me and indigenous to me. These were my frequent thoughts.

"But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the stain of former years had been washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, had been infused into my reconciled heart. By the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man. Then, in a wondrous manner, doubtful things at once began to become sure to me, hidden things to be revealed, dark things to be enlightened. What before had seemed difficult began to suggest a means of accomplishment; what had been thought impossible, to be capable of being achieved. I was enabled to acknowledge that what previously, being born of the flesh, had been living in the practice of sins, was of the earth and earthly, had now begun to be of God, and was animated by the Spirit of holiness… 

"That we sinned before was the result of human error whereas now that we do not sin it is the beginning of the work of faith. All our power is of God; I say, of God. From Him we have life, from Him we have strength. By power derived and conceived from Him we do, while yet in this world, foreknow the indications of things to come. Only let fear be the keeper of innocence, that the Lord, Who of His mercy has flowed into our hearts…may be kept by righteous submissiveness in the frame of a grateful mind, that the assurance we have gained may not lead to carelessness, and so the old enemy creep upon us again.” (St. Cyprian of Carthage (190-258 AD). Excerpts from his 1st Epistle "To Donatus" shortly after his Baptism about 246 AD. Bishop of Carthage, AD 248 until his martyrdom in 258.)

+ St. Cyprian, Pray for us +